Authors On The Rise Interviews Tracy L. Darity

Authors On The Rise is happy to bring you an interview from author Tracy L. Darity. Please take the time out to visit her website and order her books. Enjoy!

AOTR: Please give us a brief bio on you the person, and tell us about your book.

Darity: My name is Tracy L. Darity and I was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, where I currently reside. The mother of three, I spent the better part of my adult life raising them up in the way they should go, so I am a late bloomer in terms of fulfilling my dreams. My debut novel He Loves Me He Loves Me Not! was received with great accolades and won me the Living In Color 2009 Best New Author award.

Today I want to present my second work, Love…Like Snow In Florida On A Hot Summer Day, which is a complex novel that gives a raw look into infidelity and how this selfish act destroys, not only marriages but the lives of those involved.

AOTR: How did you come up with the ideal for your book, and how long did it take to complete?

Darity: Infidelity is a hot topic right now and one that is virtually impossible to escape. It is everywhere we turn, co-workers, church members, celebrities, and politicians, are all getting caught in it, so the material was there, I just needed a unique approach to tell the story. From first word to publication it took me a little over a year to write.

AOTR: What are some of the issues your characters faced in your book, and why did you choose for them to face those issues?

Darity: I didn’t want to write a book where the husband wonders, the wife forgives, and the mistress goes off into the abyss, because that is not the reality. Today people are actually leaving their spouses for the other woman or man. I chose to write the story in first person from the perspective of the husband, wife, and mistress, to give the reader insight into what each character is feeling.

AOTR: Looking back, is there anything you would change or add to your story? Why or why not?

Darity: Although the majority of readers have expressed that they loved the book, a few have stated that they were unable to connect with the characters. I feel it would be foolish of me to ignore those readers, so if I changed anything it would be to go back and look at the characters to see what I could do further develop them.

AOTR: Is writing an emotional way for you to write out your feelings or do you just write what you visualize?

Darity: I write what I visualize. I do try to place myself in each characters mind to better express what they are thinking and why they are doing what they are at that particular moment.

AOTR: Which of your characters was the easiest to write? Why? Which of your characters did you struggle to write? Why?

Darity: I think the easiest character to write was LaDamien, the husband. Reason being, wanting what we can’t or shouldn’t have is something many of us can relate to. My struggle came with Kim, the wife, because I had to bring out her insecurities, her desperation, her anguish, and her fears, while showing her as successful business woman, a nurturing mother, a loving wife, yet still in control despite the hell she was going through.

AOTR: What do you enjoy doing besides writing?

Darity: I love watching my daughter pursue their interest, tennis, art, etc. I also am an avid reader.

AOTR: Have you ever suffered from writers block? How did you overcome it?

Darity: Writer’s block is quite common for me. When it gets really bad I write down where I want the story to go and how I plan to get to the next place. This often helps me to write even if it doesn’t get me in full gear story wise.

AOTR: Do you have a motto?

Darity: Life is a journey; not a destination.

AOTR: If you could write a book with any author, who would it be and why?

Darity: Hhmmmm. I don’t think I could put anyone through that because I dance to my own beat, and live by my own clock.

AOTR: What is one thing about you people would be surprised to find out?

Darity: I’m really not as extroverted as they think.

AOTR: Where do you hope to be in your writing career ten years from now?

Darity: Still writing enjoyable books

AOTR: We wish you much success!

Tracy's ten favorite things

Day of the week - The one with blue skies, bright sun, and comfortable temperatures

Restaurant – The Salt Rock Grille – Indian Rocks Bch, FL

Book – Holy Bible

Movie – Imitation of Life

Cereal – Sugar Pops

Song – A Song For You – Donny Hathaway

Season - Spring

Hot drink – Hot Chocolate

Vacation spot - Jamaica

City – New Orleans

Social networking site – www. TracyLDarity.ning.com

Authors On The Rise Interviews Rhonda McKnight

Authors On The Rise is delighted to bring you an interview with Rhonda McKnight. Please check out her books and Enjoy!

AOTR: Please tell us about yourself and your books.

McKnight: My name is Rhonda McKnight. I’m the author of two women’s fiction novels, An Inconvenient Friend (Aug 2010) and Secrets and Lies (Dec 2009) and a story in an anthology titled A Woman’s Revenge (June 2010). I own a free-lance writer’s service, Legacy Editing, and I’m also a partner in an independent publishing company, 3 Sisters Books. I have two sons and a goldfish that won’t die no matter how much we neglect him. I’m originally from a small coastal town in New Jersey, but I’ve been living in the Atlanta area for twelve years.

My latest release is An Inconvenient Friend. It’s the story of Samaria Jacobs. Samaria is a man-stealer whose plot to steal her man involves befriending his wife. She works at getting inside information so she can break up their marriage. What she doesn’t expect is to like the wife!

AOTR: Why did you write your book and where did the inspiration come from?

McKnight: This story just fell into my head literally, but once I started plotting I realized I wanted to write a story that showed how very wrong it was for the chicks on the side to insert themselves into marriages and the consequences of their choices for all involved.

AOTR: What do you hope people will take away after finishing your book?

McKnight: The message that God loves us all and we’re always welcome into HIS grace no matter what we’ve done.

AOTR: What important lessons or teaching were you trying to convey?

McKnight: Women need to get back to practicing sisterhood. We are doing some crazy things in the name of getting and/or keeping a man.

AOTR: Does your book deal with any important social issues?

McKnight: My first novel addresses several social issues, but this one doesn’t. However, it does include some issues that I think are very important inside the community of family. It highlights major concerns that have the ability to either make or break a marriage – communication, marital issues of infidelity and fertility. It also has subplots that involve relationships amongst women in the church, drug abuse, as well as familial financial dependency and emotional abuse. It’s chocked full of conflict.

AOTR: In one sentence tell a reader why they should read your book for their next selection.

McKnight: An Inconvenient Friend is a clever story that takes an old plot “cheating husband - messy mistress” and makes it fresh.

AOTR: If you had a chance to have dinner with any author dead or alive, who would it be and what is one question you would ask him or her?

McKnight: The late BeBe Moore Campbell. I’d ask her all about her writing process. How she plotted her stories and developed her characters. What stories did she want to write that she never will?

AOTR: What is the best advice someone gave you, and what advice would you give to someone right now who is going through hardships?

McKnight: The best advice I’ve ever received was from my mother and it was about graduate school. Years ago, I shared with her that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go to graduate school, because I would probably be almost forty before I finished. She told me that if I lived long enough I would eventually be forty anyway, so I might as well be forty with the degree than without. It was great advice because it meant “It’s never too late to accomplish a goal.” BTW – I was forty when I finished the degree.
I tell people that God wants to see them live out their destiny and purpose. If they make a plan, work their program and don’t give up, they’ll realize their dreams.

AOTR: If you were not an author what career field would you be in?

McKnight: Ha, ha, ha! If I weren’t a training and policy specialist for a federal food assistance program I’d be a full-time author. Now, if I could do anything else other than write – I think I’d be marriage and family therapist.

AOTR: What do you pray your legacy will be?

McKnight: That I wrote great books that touched the heart of women.

AOTR: We wish you much success!

Rhonda's 10 favorite things

Day of the week: Friday and Thank God for it!

Holiday: Christmas for sure. Love bearing and sharing gifts with my family.

Food: Carrot Cake.

CD: Alone In His Presence by Cee Cee Winans

Town or city: Destin, Florida

Friend Why: Janice I. She always tells me the truth.

Quote: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

Book: Passing By Samaria by Sharon Ewell Foster

Teacher Why: Donna Mitchell – 10th Grade Honors English. She taught me to think about literature, to synthesize story and to explore the motivation behind character actions. Those lessons help me in my writing today.

Hobby: Does being on Facebook count? I’d say playing with my newly natural hair.